Some More Detail...

Let me fill in a bit more about my adventures. So, after lunch yesterday, forgive me if I overlap a bit, we actually we silly Americans and watched Madagascar, the son of Pilar, our house mother, has a bunch of pirated DVD´s, so we watched that since we wanted to chill out and we were a bit bored. Also, we walked to Carolina Park (Parque Carolinea). It´s supposedly dangerous alone but safe it a group. It was really cool to just walk the streets, see all the different people, the different shops (yet some are frighteningly American, like restaurants. Tony Roma, KFC, etc all have a big presence here). The park was especially cool. It was nice to find a spot of green in this city. Unfortunately, there´s a lot of pollution here. The buses and cars nearly make me hack due to all the exhaust fumes. The streets are cleaner than I expected though. They are definitely uneven and I need to watch where I´m stepping, I learned that yesterday by stepping in a big hole in sidewalk just before dashing across the street between cars. Panecilla was so beautiful, I may have to go back there when it is light out, just to see the whole expanse of the city. Quito is a very long city, not very wide, since it is wedged between two mountain ranges. This morning, we got to try out the bus system! It was too difficult but I was a bit paranoid about my backpack when the bus was really packed with people, but we had no problems. It´s amazing how much things cost here. For example, our bus fare was only a quarter, and internet access averages out at one dollar an hour. I appreciate it! It is rather odd that a foreign country uses the US dollar, we talked with our host mother about the switch to the dollar, she said it´s been great because it has lessened the rampant inflation that plagued the country for years when they used the sucre. I am so glad I know some Spanish. If I didn´t, I wouldn´t be able to communicate with our host mother or most people here. It also helps tremendously with customs officials, cafe workers, etc. It´s fun to use it, but I feel so obviously American and ignorant at the same time. There´s so much more I have to learn. Well, I am off. I need to prepare for the rainforest tomorrow. I won´t have any internet access, but I´ll have plenty to say when I get back. We´ll be there for a few days, hiking, doing short projects, piranha fishing, etc. ¡Hasta luego!